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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

FIFA reaffirms its role as pillar of established order

A recent visit by world soccer body FIFA president Sepp
Blatter to the Middle East spotlighted the group’s role as a pillar of the
existing political and football governance order under the guise of a fictional
separation between sports and politics rather than a force for greater transparency
and accountability.

To be sure, Mr. Blatter’s support during his visit of
Israeli Football Association (IFA) chief Avi Luzon upheld the principle of a
ban on government interference in the affairs of national soccer associations. It
also demonstrated that it is a principle that works to some degree in
functioning democracies but becomes a farce in autocracies where governments
control governance of the game with or without the façade of formal elections.

The main thrust of Mr. Blatter’s visit was to
ease Israeli restrictions that hamper Palestinian soccer. Nevertheless, his thinly
veiled threat that the IFA would be suspended and the Israeli national team
banned from international competitions put a halt to calls by Israeli culture
and sport minister Limor Livnat for Mr. Luzon’s resignation because of an
alleged conflict of interest. A committee appointed by Mr. Livnat demanded Mr.
Luzon’s resignation of Luzon on the grounds that his affiliation with soccer
club Maccabi Petah Tikva was in conflict with his position as head of the IFA.

Mr. Livnat’s gunning for Mr. Luzon was no doubt politically
motivated. Mr. Luzon chaired Maccabi prior to become IFA president but still
attends the club’s games. Nevertheless, what Mr. Blatter’s support did not do
was ensure an independent investigation into the allegation that would have
been in line with best practice rather than uphold soccer governance’s policing
of itself. That policing mechanism is fundamentally flawed witness the massive
corruption scandals that have rocked world soccer in the last three years.

By the same token, FIFA has effectively been a pillar of
autocracy in the Middle East and North Africa by seldom intervening in a world
in which soccer associations are controlled by the ruler’s pawns or members of
ruling families. In doing so, it has allowed autocrats to control the only
non-religious institution that provides a venue for protest in the absence or
advance of a popular revolt.

The mosque and the soccer pitch constitute the two venues
where autocrats cannot simply crackdown on protesters because of the fact that
football is the one thing that evokes the kind of deep-seated emotion that
religion does and the sheer number of people involved in a soccer-crazy part of
the world.

Beyond the key role that militant soccer fans played in successful
anti-autocratic revolts like the overthrow in 2011 of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak,
the soccer pitch has become a venue of protest in a host of countries,
including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Morocco and Algeria.

Underlying FIFA’s failure to enforce best practice and its
non-interference in government manipulation is the fictional notion that
politics and sports do not and should not mix. Nothing could be further from
the truth irrespective of whether in a democracy or an autocratic system. One
just needs to look at the composition of the FIFA executive board or the
International Olympic Council as recently highlighted by investigative German
sports journalist Jens Weinreich.

Greater transparency and accountability as well as the
enabling of powerful international sports associations to live up to their
lofty principles and values would be significantly enhanced by recognizing
reality for what it is: sports and politics are inextricably intertwined. Denial
of this fact of life undermines and lacks credibility.

That sports and politics
are intertwined is evident at every twist of the road from the direct
involvement of rulers, politicians and governments in the boards and executive
committees of regional and international sports associations to the use of mega
events by nations and governments to the role that global governing bodies play
in the legitimization of rulers. Recognizing that reality would open the door
to enforcing a charter or code of conduct that would govern the relationship of
sports and politics. That is of course the one thing that neither politics nor
the existing sports governance structure does not want.

James M. Dorsey is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies as Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of
Würzburg, and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile